Heilmann shows he’s a contender

This past weekend long time client, Troy Heilmann showed the country that he’s a serious contender for the 149lb NCAA National Championship this season. Troy finished second, knocking off two ranked opponents along the way. In addition to taking second and cementing himself in the top 10 of the country, Troy put up enough team points to help elevate UNC to a top 15 finish.

Heilmann, who went 5-1 on the day, started off with a 10-2 major decision over Jonathan Furnas, of Cornell, on Friday and then took out West Virginia’s Kyler Rea 3-1 before dominating Harvard’s Hunter Ladnier 6-0 in the round of 16.

The quarter finals saw Heilmann compete in one of the most exciting matches of the whole tournament. Trailing 6-0 early to Ohio State’s Ke-Shawn Hayes, Heilmann began to pick away at the lead before eventually putting Hayes to his back in the second. Unfortunately time ran out before Troy could secure the fall. Finding himself on his feet, tied 8-8 with less than a minute to go, Troy was able to work for the takedown and secure a 10-8 decision over the number 11 ranked wrestler in the country.

The semi’s saw Heilmann knock-off the top seed Max Thomsen of Northern Iowa 3-1. Thomsen came into the tournament ranked 3rd in the country and was an NCAA All-American in 2017 (5th.) In the final, Troy took on the third-seeded Justin Oliver of Central Michigan. Troy and Oliver battled back and forth but ultimately Oliver’s three takedowns were too much to overcome and Troy lost 9-7.

Coming into this amazing weekend Troy was ranked as high as 6th in the country by FloWrestling. With this performance we don’t think its unrealistic to expect him to be moved into the top 5.

Congratulations again on a great tournament Troy and keep up the hard work!